Why did we call ourselves ‘Dead Industry’? There were two reasons. First, the name described the spaces we were able to show our work in: disused warehouse and industrial space. Second, we were mostly a group of painters, a medium that at the time was going through one of its perennial cycles of being declared ‘dead’. 

The first show was in a semi-vacant industrial building at Dundas and Carlaw that had seen better days. Artists Jorj Papas and Hugh Alcock had a studio in the building and were able to rent a large temporary space for next to nothing. Mikael Sandblom joined them in organizing the first group show ‘Making, Mapping, Marking’ in November 1994 which grew to include 19 artist-collaborators.

After the success of the inaugural event, we decided that the best way to move forward would be to empower artists to curate and develop their own shows. Membership was not restricted. The goal was that anyone who put the effort in, should be able to organize around a concept for a show. The collective provided help with graphics and invites, maintained a mailing list, and developed a network of show-friendly landlords. Not even low-budget, it was a no-budget, bootstrap organization. Artists provided all the labour. The role of weekday gallerist was shared by the artists in each show. The rent was covered through beer sales at each raucous vernissage!

Over the next two years around nine shows occurred under the collective’s name.